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| US sends more military advisors to Iraq | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The US has sent 130 more military advisors to the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel says. | |
| The marines and special operations forces will assess the humanitarian situation and will not be engaged in combat, a US defence official said. | |
| The US has been carrying out air strikes against fighters from militant group Islamic State (IS). | |
| IS fighters have forced tens of thousands to flee their homes. | |
| "This is not a combat boots on the ground kind of operation," Mr Hagel said, in remarks made at Camp Pendleton in California. | |
| The "assessment team members" had arrived in the northern city of Irbil and would "give more in-depth assessment of where we can continue to help," he said. | |
| A US defence official said the government would continue to explore ways to support "Iraqis affected by the ongoing fighting in Sinjar", and to prevent "potential acts of genocide" by IS. | |
| The UN has said that tens of thousands of civilians, including members of the Yazidi sect, are trapped on Sinjar mountain by IS fighters and need "life-saving assistance". | |
| Meanwhile, a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint near the home of newly-appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad, Reuters news agency reported, citing security sources and local media. | |
| There were no immediate details on casualties. | |
| Iraq's president asked Haider al-Abadi to form a new cabinet on Monday, snubbing the incumbent PM Nouri Maliki. | |
| The move came after months of political infighting, which experts say has contributed to Iraq's inability to fight the IS threat. |